Nightlights
by transparantducks
Summary: Ib/Garry. Set 11 years later. Garry helps decorating Ib's new apartment, and... stuff happens. Rated T just in case. 8/17/12: Visitors
1. Prologue

_A/N:_

The reason why this story is set 11 years later is because I don't like to write romantic stuff between a 9-year-old and an adult. Makes me feel awkward! I'm okay with reading it, though. I'm weird. c': For some reason I always like to think that he is 23 in the actual game. The prologue is kind of short. The other chapters won't be too long either, since English isn't my mother tongue so it takes a bit more time to write and to check every mistake. This is just something I write for fun. Enjoy!

* * *

Garry ran.

Garry ran as fast as he could.

A young couple across the street did the same.

…But least they had brought umbrellas. Garry has forgotten his, and as result of his clumsiness he's soaked to the bone.

Did he even own an umbrella? Garry didn't know. Oh, well. The building in which Ib lived was in sight. Thank goodness.

He stormed inside the apartment complex. The door slammed against the wall, creating a loud noise. Ib's apartment was on the sixth floor. Good thing they have elevators. He made his way to the two iron elevator doors. He noticed that they were both in use, so Garry chose to wait. There was no way he was going to walk up twelve flights of stairs. He was still out of breath because of all the running he did. Just now he realized how hot he was, since it's not raining cold water drops inside, obviously.

That reminded him of that room in the Fabricated World Ib had told him about. How it rained in one of the rooms she and Mary had been in. When he heard about it for the first time, the only thought that went through is head was '_How is that even possible?_' …Well, on a second thought, it could be possible with the use of sprinklers. That would be logical. But nothing in that world made sense. He shook his head. Why was he thinking about this? It made him shiver, even after so many years.

The elevators were both still engaged. Garry began to wonder if the elevators worked at all. Perhaps they were broken? Not feeling like waiting any longer, he let out a loud grunt and walked up the stairs. When he arrived at the sixth flight of stairs he decided to run. He wanted to get this over with. _'That's it,'_ he thought, _'tomorrow I'm joining a gym.'_ He desperately needs to get back in shape. Or stop smoking. But unfortunately, that isn't an option. He has tried numerous times. Even Ib tried to help him stop smoking, but none of her efforts worked. Old habits die hard.


	2. Visitors

_A/N:_

Thank you so much for the views, follows and favourites. It really means a great deal to me! Here's chapter 1 for you guys. ;u;

* * *

Ib was staring outside her window. Her mother helped her with the search for an apartment. It didn't take too long, luckily. Ib was happy she went for this one. The neighbours are kind, the living room is pretty spacious… it's close to perfect. About a minute ago she witnessed Garry running into the building, and she couldn't help but smile. Smile, and feel bad for him. Garry could be here any time now.

"I should get a towel for him…" she mumbled to herself. She got up and walked to the bathroom. As soon as she grabbed hold of one of the white towels in the cabinet, she heard a knocking sound coming from the door's direction.

"I'm coming!" Ib called, and made her way to the door.

* * *

"Finally… " he panted. He knocked on the white door in front of him three times. It had a small peephole on it. Surely Ib wouldn't need to look through it right now, seeing as he is the only person Ib is expecting. A second later he heard Ib's voice, and another second later her footsteps on a, judging by the sound of it, wooden floor. Ib opened the door with a huge smile on her face and immediately handed him the towel.

"Good morning!" she greeted him.

"Morning," Garry responded. '_Without the _"_good_"', he thought to himself. There was nothing good about rain and coldness. Not to mention wetness. He held up the towel, showing he was thankful for it, and walked inside. She simply smiled. It was warm in the apartment, fortunately.

"Forgot to bring an umbrella with you?" she asked, teasingly. Garry just glanced at her. She closed the door and led Garry to the couch. Garry didn't sit down right away, but hesitated.

"Ah, I really don't want to ruin your couch." Garry told the younger woman, concerned about messing up the pretty snow white fabric of her sofa. It looked new. And expensive. Barely a second after the words left his lips, Ib sneaked behind him. Garry felt her hands on his shoulders, tugging at his coat.

"You weren't planning on keeping on your coat, were you? The rest of you is dry. Most of it." Ib stated. Garry relaxed his arms so Ib could easily slide off his rather long, dark blue coat. It was quite old, but still wearable. Garry swallowed. For some reason it felt awkward when Ib did it.

Ib threw the coat over her arm. "Well, let's hang it outside to dry, shall we?" she proposed. Garry turned around to look at her, with a questioning expression on his face. Ib rolled her eyes and mouthed a '_kidding_', along with a small chuckle. Then she walked towards one of the few radiators installed in the apartment, and placed Garry's coat over it, so it could dry faster. She loved that coat, even though it looks worn out. It always reminded her of the first time Garry let her wear it in… _that place_. It was way too big for her back then. Although it still is. She certainly wasn't the tallest woman around. She was quite short, actually. Garry sat down on the couch and dried his hair with the towel Ib had given him. When he was done drying his hair, he handed it to Ib.

"Would you like some coffee?" Ib asked, while she was heading to the bathroom in order to get rid of the towel. She seemed to be in good spirits today, unlike the weather. Well, they hadn't see each other for almost two weeks. Perhaps she was happy to see him again.

Garry was happy to see her again, at least. Especially when she was this cheerful.

"That'd be nice, thank you." Garry responded, having to raise his voice a little. With Ib out of sight, he wasn't sure if she heard him. Apparently she has, seeing as she hasn't asked him again. She was probably in the kitchen at this moment, leaving him with some time to take a proper look at Ib's brand new apartment.

It was at least twice bigger than his apartment. Most of the furniture was white, except for the coffee and dinner table, which were made of dark brown, almost black, wood. '_Ebony_', Garry guessed. It was the same colour as the wooden floor. Wait, no. Examining it again, the floor was perhaps a bit lighter. The interior was a mixture of modern and traditional. Garry liked it. The whole apartment looked pretty complete to Garry. Simple. Why did Ib need his help with the decoration? It looked fine. But he knew he wasn't an expert on home decoration. You could easily tell that from the way his apartment looked.

A few moments later, Ib walked into the living room holding one cup of coffee in each hand. She placed one of them on the coffee table right in front of Garry.

"Here you go," Ib said, and sat next to Garry on the couch, still holding her cup. Garry thanked her, picked up his own cup of coffee and took a sip from the hot beverage.

"I accidentally made it a bit too strong. If you don't like it I'll make another one."

"No, i-it's fine. I like strong coffee." Garry said, grinning. Ib simply nodded.

Actually, he didn't. But he didn't want to be rude. Also, he was already thankful for having something warm in his hands. They were basically freezing.

"Anyhow," Garry began, "your apartment looks great. You don't find many apartments like these around here. It must have been expensive." Garry remarked, looking around the living room one more time. It was truly big, and this was just the living room. Now he thought about it a second time, her living room was about as big as his apartment, including the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.

"Yeah..." Ib took a small sip from her coffee and moved on. "You know my parents, they're rich. They paid most of it. They_ insisted_ to pay most of it. I feel kind of guilty, though. How am I supposed to repay them?" she wondered, while blowing across the surface of her coffee in order to cool it.

Garry knew where she was coming from. "Don't worry. I'm sure they're not even expecting something back." he assured her.

Ib just let out a '_hm_'. She still wasn't convinced. "So, what have you been up to for the past month?" she asked, changing the subject.

'_The past month?_' Garry raised his eyebrows. "It's only been two weeks, Ib." he informed her.

"What?" Ib looked surprised. "It looked so much longer," she admitted, rubbing her left lower arm with her right hand. It was a habit of hers, whenever she felt the slightest bit of embarassment. It was kind of endearing, he had to say. '_Wait, no, it's not._' Garry mentally slapped himself for even thinking that.

"A-Anyway, I haven't really been doing anything. I would've helped you with moving in, but you wouldn't let me." he smiled at her. He knew the reason why, but he just liked to tease the dark-haired woman next to him with it.

She eyed him. "Like I told you many times before, I didn't want to bother you with it!" she punched Garry's arm in a playful manner. Garry let out a soft '_ouch_', even though it didn't hurt at all.

"It was a lot of work." she explained.

"But you do want to bother me with your decorating?"

"It seemed more appropriate for you."

"I'm not taking that as a compliment," Garry said, frowning. He was just messing with her, and she knew it too.

"Are you kidding me?" Ib exclaimed, putting down her almost empty cup on the coffee table. She sat back on the sofa, but turning her body more to Garry's direction so she could face him better. "Decoration is the most important part of the house interior," she explained to him. "It completes everything."

Garry still thought that the room looked fine as it is right now. "Then you shouldn't trust me with it. Have you seen my apartment?" he argumented. His place was kind of a mess. It was not that bad, but still. It happens when you live alone. _No_, that's a bad excuse. Ib's apartment would never look like his.

Ib tried to recall what Garry's place looked like. It didn't take her long. She looked down at her hands and smiled broadly. Yeah, he was right. But she just wanted Garry to help her decorate instead of unpacking boxes, for some reason. Well, no, there was a reason. It was a lot more fun, and they would be alone doing it.

"Your place, it's… cozy." Ib said. She looked up and tried hold back her smile. Which she failed at. Just take one single glance at her face, and you could tell that she was obviously making that up.

"You wish," Garry laughed.


End file.
